"unguarded with rachel nichols" starts now. hi. i'm rachel nichols. welcome to "unguarded" a sports show that brings you the candid human side of some of the world's most talented human beings and explores the issues that extend off the field to touch us all. welcome. thanks for joining us. whether you're a hard core fan or just like hearing interesting things about interesting people, this is your show for compelling and unguarded interviews with some of the biggest names in

sports. like jon lester. ace pitcher for the newly minted world series champion boston red sox. lester already had a championship ring from 2007. this year he was huge, the team's steady backbone who earned two of boston's four wins. he was kind enough to invite cnn into his home for his first sit down since he and his teammates won the title on wednesday night. >> you are now a two-time world series champion. >> i don't even think it's fully sunk in yet. it's so new. i don't think it will hit home for us until next year. when you get opening day and you finally get the rings in your hand and the flag goes up and all that. but to get to do it twice, very, very special. honor to be a part of this organization. >> and for you, the ace of the staff, i know you grew up near seattle and you idolized randy

johnson. it was a big deal you were the ace of the staff. >> when you're little you don't fully understand the responsibilities that come with it especially with this organization. i know the days in spring training where you're run down and it's a long day on the field and you still have to work out. you got those young guys in the clubhouse that are watching you to see, okay, what's he going to do? is he going to skip his work out or get in there and grind it out? >> what made you guys come together as a team the way you have? >> honestly, everybody says from the first day it clicked and it really did. >> i think a good amount of guys have some type of beard or something. >> we know you guys are a fun-loving team. because we see the facial hair. i have to ask, you haven't gone as full lumberjack as some of your teammates. >> yeah. >> how do you decide i'm going to have the beard. >> i haven't been doing it as long as them. i think it was september. i said you know what? doesn't matter. screw it.

i'm doing it. so this has been since september. usually i can kind of sneak around boston and not get recognized. and now with the -- i think people just see facial hair and they automatically go you've got to be a red sox even if you're not you've got to be. so it's been a little more difficult to go up to a local starbucks and get your coffee in the morning than in past months. but it's been good. >> can yu shave now that you've won a world series? are you allowed to? >> i don't think so. i think old jonny gomes and mike napoli would have something to say about it. i'll tell you what. this is probably the loosest group i've ever been around. i remember '07 just very business-oriented. show up to the field, they have the routines, do all the routines, they go out and play. this one it's 180 difference. i think game one we had kenny chesney and kevin millar upstairs just hanging out. kevin's telling jokes. half our team's up there. i'm riding a bike getting ready

for the game. i'm like i wish i could be in there right now. >> you're about to pitch. >> i'm about to pitch and these guys are in here cutting up. >> the world series. >> yeah. >> nobody's like this. just hanging out. >> hanging out having a good time. that's what makes us work. >> you had such a strange experience after game one of this world series. all of a sudden everyone's talking about the resin on your glove? it looks green. and i loved your skriepdescript. what did you call it it looked like? >> the big green booger. game one was so special to me. i think our team to go out there and kind of set the tone early and get off to a good start. and then to have that come up as a distraction. it's tough. i don't want that reputation. i don't want that to be next to my name. i want to be -- when guys look across the field and they see me on the mound like hey this guy goes about it the right way. >> that's impactful stuff. we're going to hear a lot more from lester on this after the break, including his response to

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i'm rachel nichols. welcome back to "unguarded." we want to bring you more from jon lester, ace pitchers of the boston red sox. during game one of the series, allegations were raised that lester might be using an illegal substance on his glove. officials cleared him immediately identifying the substance as regular ruesin. he talked about the controversy. >> i don't cheat. that's all i can say about it. for something like that to come out kind of a little thorn in your side. but i know how i prepare. i know what i do. so it was sad, because it took away from game one. >> you had the cardinals themselves coming out and say we

don't think he did anything. >> that meant a lot to me for the g.m., for mike matheny, major league baseball to come out immediately and say, look, this is what we think. and drop it. and that meant a lot, especially with everything that was going on with game one and just kind of trying to enjoy that. that meant a lot to me to hear those guys say that. >> for people who don't live here, can you explain how tied this particular team has been to this particular city in this particular year after the marathon bombings? >> when that happened, even the new guys that had been here i mean it happened in april. for a couple, week, were here for a week. and it was like immediately those guys took ahold of boston. like hey, this is our home too, you know. why would you do that to our home? just things kind of snowballed from there. it was just like, hey, what else can we do to help? and you could really see when this happened, the fans came to fenway to get away.

>> you see the amputees, the victims of the bombing out on that field before you have some of your biggest games. and they look at you guys and they say, win for us. what different kind of weight is that on your shoulders as an athlete to feel that? >> i wouldn't say weight. i think it kind of motivates you a little bit as far as those days that you're kind of struggling when you're walking in from the bull pen and those guys are coming by, it's like, okay, it doesn't matter. i got to find a way. these guys are in wheat chairs right now. they've lived half their life walking and all of a sudden in one day, in one second they're in a wheelchair. and it's like i need to go out there and compete for these guys. >> you're used to playing for a cause, so to speak. you've got your foundation for kids with cancer. >> i fought and beat cancer. now it's time to fight for the kids. >> i know that some of that was born out of your own experiences. you were diagnosed with lymphoma when you were 22 years old.

you're 29 years old now. how much does it still inform every day when you walk out and get to play the game of baseball and you get to be healthy now? >> i don't think so much anymore. i think when it hits home for me is when we have the kids that come out to the games. you get hurt, go through rehab, you come back and then you move on. that's how i really wanted to approach it. and that helped me. that's the way that i coped with it. >> you won another world series. you had two world series. there must have been a time back then when that seemed if not impossible very far away. >> i mean, one seemed impossible at the time. especially that year just going through all that stuff trying to get back to being a big leaguer was my main goal. >> we're the world champs. this is incredible, man. >> all 30 teams commit at spring training we're going to win the world series. there's only one of us that stands at the end and gets to hold that trophy up. it's one of those deals i don't think you could ever fully

describe to somebody unless they get to do it. >> already thinking to the next one? >> not yet, no. not yet. enjoying this one, definitely. >> lester told me he sees a mirror in the way the red sox went from worst in their division last year to world series winners this year. he said they identified the tumors, they healed, they built themselves stronger and into champions. i want to talk about that and a lot more with our excellent panel today. i'm joined by former nfl star running back tiki barber. most people probably expect you to be here. you are an athlete. but steve, you work in a different field. that is the idea with our panels on "unguarded." we want to mix people from different backgrounds who can bring a broader perspective into our discussion about sports. steve you're a form police officer. you've been in the military. i want to ask you a little bit about the shows you do on cheating and wrongdoing. reflecting on the lester piece you just saw, have we become jaded in the world of sports and

seeing so much cheating all the time, that even when a guy is cleared of wrongdoing there's so much skepticism among the media and fans he must have cheated? >> i said could you imagine if they got called cheating in a world series and got thrown out of the game? maybe worse than steroid being accused of that. an i said nobody during the game ever complained or said i want to see the ball. i certainly didn't think that he was cheating. and i watched the whole world series. so i just can't imagine anybody would take that kind of risk at such a high stage. >> is it too dominant a story line in sports now that we just jump to that no matter what? >> we can never know. we can only take him at his word. he said it was resin. is david ortiz on steroids to be able to do what he's doing at this age and so clutch and striking the ball. you take him at his word. you can dig an fight and bring down a great story. but it's ultimately not worth it i think. >> and there were great story

lines. i know you're a yankees fan so might be hard to admit this. great story lines on the red sox this year. the team chemistry was such a big part of that. >> it's all chemistry. i think it starts at the top. when they brought john ferrell back, i think he set an expectation but then let his locker room kind of control what was going on. to hear john talking about that in that piece. we were loose. we weren't business like like in '07. they had fun. i think they let themselves police the problems that would arise. and it turned out to be a fabulous season for them. >> chemistry comes into play in so many respects. we talk about sports being a metaphor for life and teams and things like that. police forces or whether the situations you deal with on your show. how much is that so much about chemistry how much is that a factor? >> i think it's a big factor. i think when you love what you do and you love your job you perform better. and i try to be good to everybody that works for me because it's a great atmosphere and the show's better when everybody's happy and pulling

together. and i think that's the problem with the red sox last year. i don't think anybody really enjoyed come together ballpark and playing. i love bobby valentine, but i don't think he did a great job. >> it's also about trust, right? >> somebody's got your back. >> exactly. you got to know you depend on that person. if they do it consistently, do it on a daily basis then you don't really worry about the things that come up that may be detrimental. you believe they'll find a way to get it done. that's what it felt like with this boston team. they didn't hit well but they hit when they needed to. >> the a the right time. >> some clutch hitting. >> if you really wanted chemistry at your workplace you should grow a beard. >> i'd look like the guests on springer if i grew a beard. i don't think that's going to happen. >> we talked about the beards so much. they look like mountain men out there. apparently they're not allowed to cut them. >> until the parade, right? >> did you do that on any of your teams? not the beards but any sort of -- >> we never did.

maybe silly things. plaxico burress once wanted me to grow the george jefferson. because i don't have it up here. but not really. i think the dynamic is different in baseball because it's every day. you're traveling across the country and you're on these extended road trips, whereas in my sport in football you're gone eight days out of the year. that's it. and you're around each other in training camp but it's a different kind of closeness that i think exists on baseball teams. >> all right, breaking news, more raise raiors in nfl locker rooms. stay with us. we will be right back. i gotta go deposit a check, transfer some money. so it's your uncle's turn. what? wait, wait, wait... no, no, no, wait, wait. (baby crying) so you can deposit a check...

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welcome back to "unguarded" miami dolphins tackle jonathan martin abruptly left the team earlier this week. since then sources have told the miami herald martin was being essentially bullied by his teammates. other sources indicated martin might have personal emotional issues at play as well. the full story still developing up regardless this is not the first time we've seen concern with what nfl players like to call hazing and when it might go far. i'm here with tiki barber and steve wilkos. we were talking about the chemistry issues with the red sox, how great it was in the clubhouse with the world series. what about when things start to careen in the other reaction, tee tiki? >> i think it's part of sports, part of the football culture. you kind of initiate new folks, new players. jonathan martin is in his second year. but you initiate them into football. they kind of have to earn respect. now, i think we have to be careful with using the term

bullying that. would imply he was a defenseless person, that he couldn't fight back. i think he can. i think there's probably something else going on here that's only exacerbated by his teammates getting on him for whatever reason. and guys are going to do that. to me the most important thing is that a veteran leader in that locker room takes control of that situation. it can come down from on high from the coaching staff or the organization. but it's better if it comes from internally. >> you do a lot of shows on bullying. this is a big topic of conversation in your line of work. can you be 6'5" and bullied? >> i was a little surprised the reaction from it. immediately i thought maybe he had mental health issues. because when we do top eggs on bullying it's usually with teenagers. and i got to imagine, tiki would know far more about this than me. but through high school locker rooms, college locker rooms, i got to imagine he went through this all the way up. and to be now you're in the pros and to have this happen you storm off, i was a little

surprised by that reaction. >> but there is hazing. >> sure, there is. >> there's tons of hazing. it happens all the time. guys get their haircut. forced to pay for dinner. >> we got to show the giants video, right? prince amukamara thrown into the cold tub. a lot of criticism for that. should nfl locker rooms be coming down on that whether it's a player or not? >> i think this stuff has obviously existed forever. the difference is social media makes it much more known. profound. >> are you ever going to change it? in the marines you haze. police officers in the male locker room, you have tons of stuff going on that people would be shocked like how you talk to each other and how you get on each other. you got to remember, most of these guys are 20-year-old guys filled with testosterone. i don't think you're going to change the culture very much. >> i do want to stick with the dolphins a little bit and talk about what happened with mike pouncey. he was served with papers last

weekend while he was playing the patriots. we have to make the point he was not expected to be charged with anything but could be a material witness in the aaron hernandez case. how much of guns in the nfl do you see being a pervasive problem? >> i was a policeman. i got to say now that i'm not a policeman i'm relieved i don't have to carry a gun anymore. i'm not a big fan of guns. you see on the news as we're walking in here big shooting at l.a.x. i think guns in general are a big problem in our country. and in the nfl in baseball, hockey, it's everywhere. it's not just nfl. and i don't understand the need for everybody to be carrying weapons, especially -- i'm a big guy. most people don't give me a hard time. but i don't put myself in positions either where i need to pull a gun out. >> i think there's alternatives, too. if you feel unsafe there's an alternative to carrying a gun. did you carry a gun when you played in the league? >> not a chance. if i was ever going somewhere where i felt threatened i would

hire an off-duty police officer to go around with me. i understand from the cultures these young men come from where they believe it's necessary. we cannot forget what happened to sean taylor, the washington redskins safety who was killed in a home invasion. he got shot. a lot of people at that time said if he would have had a gun he would have been safer. maybe. but it probably would have been two fatalities at that point. you have to be careful when you talk about gun safety. it gets political. it also gets cultural. i think the most important thing is that guys need to be smart with it and be aware when they have weapons that can cause harm. >> that is going to have to be the last word here. thanks so much to you both for joining us. and we want you to stay with us. after the break we're going to be joined by bleacher reports nfl expert mike freeman. he'll have four things you have to know heading into this weekend's game. hi, mike. we'll be right back. ♪ hmm.

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welcome back to "unguarded" welcome to bleacher reports mike freeman. good to have you here. >> good to be here. >> you're going to tell me four things i need to know going into this weekend's game. your best four, come on. >> starting with these guys, the dallas cowboys. the feuding cowboys. dez bryant last week gets into a bunch of arguments with his teammates on the sideline. spoke to terrell owens who's been in a few arguments himself on the sidelines. he said he supported des. he said dez will be fine. the cowboys will be fine. i want it see how these guys perform after that crazy week. >> we'll all have our popcorn ready as terrell would say. what about greg schiano. would em bat battled be an understatement? >> he's in trouble. but i'm hearing he could be in more trouble. if they goat go to seattle this week and get blown out which is very possible he could be fired this year instead of after the

season. >> mid season. wow. aaron rodgers, what have you got on him? >> he's really worked his way into the mvp race. some of the throws he's making are incredible. playing chicago. expected to do well. >> golden tate mentioned seattle. what have you got on mr. tate? >> golden tail celebrates before he gets into the end zone. the nfl does not like that. this off-season they're going to examine take away a score if you do that before you go into the end zone. touchdown serious. >> they have gotten serious. >> that's serious. i don't see the nfl doing it. that seems too crazy but the nfl might. they're thinking about it. >> that is big time. thank you very much. great to have you in studio. please come back. you can join our conversation. follow me on twitter, like us on facebook or visit us on the web at cnn.com/unguarded. be sure to join us again next we are on this show where the end

of the game is just the start of the story. the story. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com this is cnn breaking news. >> good evening, everybody. i'm erin burnett. outfront tonight, the breaking news, murder at l.a.x. a deadly shooting at one of the busiest airports in the united states. tonight at this hour, one tsa officer is dead. lost his life in the line of duty. the first ever tsa officer to be killed in the line of duty. at least three others wounded at this hour. the fbi has identified